200 



KEY TO THE WAT]:R BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 



Family RHYNX^IiOPID.E. Skimmers. 

 Genus RHYNCHOPS Linn. 



RHYNCHOPS NIGRA //////. 

 Black Skimmer. 



Adult in su/zuHcr : Bill thin, knife-like, lower mandible the longer. l)asal half vermillion red, 

 blackish at tip ; forehead, lores, and cheeks, and entire under part to crissum, and tips of second- 

 aries white ; under lining of wing and axillars white ; rest of plumage ])lack : tail white, the 

 shafts of the feathers brownish above. 



Adult in -u'intt-r: Similar but browner, and showing a wliite nuchal collar. 



Length. iS to 20 : Wing, 15 ; Tail. 5.50 : Tarsus, 1.25 : Bill (culmen), 2.70 : Gonys. 4.25. 



A common resident in Florida, it breeds on the Atlantic coast from Florida 

 to Viro-inia. Tiie eggs, usually four, are brownish white blotched with 

 chocolate brown ; they are deposited on the sand without any nest. 



Rano-e : " Warmer parts of America north on the Atlantic coast to New 

 Jersey and casually to the Bay of Fundy." ( a.o.u.) 



